Fourth Grade Science objectives build on the study of geology, astronomy, chemistry and physics. Through a progressive rigorous, integrated approach, the inquiry-based program of study blends science and 21st century skills and provides students opportunities to demonstrate scientific literacy in the fields of life science, physical science, and earth and space sciences. By engaging in active inquiries, investigations and hands-on activities throughout the instructional day, students focus on the major themes of science: systems, changes, and models in order to develop conceptual understanding and research skills as described in the objectives. Fourth Grade Science promotes cooperative learning, group decisions, cultural diversity, and careers. The curricular focus develops basic problem-solving skills through observing, experimenting and concluding. Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science objectives are integrated throughout instruction as students define problems and design solutions related to the course objectives. Students use safe and proper techniques for handling, manipulating, and caring for science materials and treating living organisms humanely. Fourth Grade Science intentionally supports developmental and academic growth.

Topic: All West Virginia teachers are responsible for classroom instruction that integrates content literacy and 21st Century Learning Skills and Technology Tools.

S.4.GS.1

Students will use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.

S.4.GS.2

Students will make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

S.4.GS.3

Students will ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide.

S.4.GS.4

Students will apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.*

S.4.GS.5

Students will obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.

Topic: Waves-Waves and Information

S.4.GS.6

Students will develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.

S.4.GS.7

Students will generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.*

Topic: Structure, Function, and Information Processing.

S.4.GS.8

Students will develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen.

S.4.GS.9

Students will construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

S.4.GS.10

Students will use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

Topic: Earth’s Systems-Processes that Shape the Earth

S.4.GS.11

Students will identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.

S.4.GS.12

Students will make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.

S.4.GS.13

Students will analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.

S.4.GS.14

Students will generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.*

Grade 3-5: Science (Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science)

Topic: Engineering Design

S.3-5.ETS.1

Students will define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

S.3-5.ETS.2

Students will generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

S.3-5.ETS.3

Students will plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.